The 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination passed with the predictable media overkill on Friday. Actually, it’s been passing for quite some time judging from all the special programming on cable TV and in newspapers over the last month.

For the record, I have no real recollection of the shooting in Dallas at all. I was 4 years old on Nov. 22, 1963.

That puts me on par with two-thirds of all Americans today who were either born after the shooting or are too young to recall it.

Odd to find a contrarian like myself in the majority on nearly anything.

Even though I have no memory of it, my mother tells me that I watched every bit of the Kennedy drama unfold on TV as if in a trance.

Thus a lifelong news junkie was born.

Or one of a legion of TV-watching zombies that now define American culture.

It’s too close to call, really.

So what I know about the assassination of President John Kennedy I gained from the endless stream of documentaries, books and movies — not to mention all the conspiracy theories that smother it.

But I have some opinions.

For the record, I believe Oliver Stone’s movie “JFK” to be the greatest unintentional film comedy of all time. The documentary, “The Men Who Killed Kennedy,” is also pretty entertaining.

Lots of loopy conspiracy theories and characters in both.

Lots of fiction, too.

But the real deal is Gerald Posner’s book, “Case Closed.” It’s absolutely the best book I’ve read about this subject.

And a few years ago I visited the Dallas School Book Depository where there is a magnificent museum about the Kennedy assassination. You have to run a gauntlet of tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy shriekers and tract-passers, to get inside the place.

Once in the door, you find thousands of artifacts and hundreds of displays.

The third floor, where assassin Lee Harvey Oswald perched, remains as it was that particular day.

He had an incredibly close shot. Fact is, I was stunned by how easy it appears to be in that deceptively compact area of Dealey Plaza.

Contrary to what some would have folks believe, the former Marine absolutely could’ve accomplished it by himself.

Bottom line, Lee Harvey Oswald did it.

Today, by the way, is the 50th anniversary of Jack Ruby executing Oswald on live TV while in the custody of the Dallas Police Department.

It still may be the most stunning event in televised history.

Until 9/11 came along, that is.

A COUPLE OF WEEKS ago I had a persistent tingling headache. I stopped at one of those “Walk-In, Drive-By, Hover-Over, Doc-in-a-Box” medical clinics for some relief.

Two days later another doctor at a different “Walk-In, Drive-Thru, Flyover” clinic took one look and uttered one word.

“Shingles.”

Personally, I’ve grown to hate that word.

Statistically speaking, one in three people who had the chicken pox as children will get the shingles, if you believe what you see on TV.

In this case, it’s not a good thing to be in the minority.

The doctor told me that sometimes the condition is brought on by stress.

Can’t imagine why a newspaper editor under a daily deadline who talks to angry people hour after hour would feel any particular amount of stress.

Oddly enough, on Thursday I read a report stating that 55 percent of all Americans are overly stressed.

Back in the majority again.

FYI: WE PLAN TO SELL newspapers hot off the press this coming Wednesday night, for the Thanksgiving Day newspaper — you know, the one with all the Black Friday ad circulars.

Better get one early since shopping now starts for some on Thanksgiving Day. We have more than 40 circulars on that day, by the way.

Our circulation director Todd Benz has turned this day before Thanksgiving newspaper sale into a big event. Starting at 9 p.m. at our office on South Main Street, Starbucks will offer free coffee and hot chocolate. We’ll also have Christmas carolers from Studio 1 providing music. Papers go on sale at 10 p.m.

Y’all come.

IN THE GOOD NEWS department, Frances Woody stopped by the office the other day for a quick visit. She’s walking with the aid of a cane and looked fantastic. She’s recovering well from her broken wrist and fractured hip.

The better news, she hopes to return to work part time on Dec. 2.

That should ease my stress a mite.

Madison Taylor is editor of the Times-News. Contact him by email at mtaylor@thetimesnews.com.